German Leader Slams Holocaust Memorial: ‘Disgrace’ In Berlin, AfD’s Bjoern Hoecke Says

[TomSea]

German Leader Slams Holocaust Memorial: ‘Disgrace’ In Berlin, AfD’s Bjoern Hoecke Says
By Greg Price @GP_IBTimes On 01/18/17 AT 9:16 AM

The head of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, Bjoern Hoecke, recently bashed the placement of the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin, telling his supporters that Germans are the “only people in the world who planted a memorial of disgrace in the heart of their capital,” BBC News reported Wednesday. His remarks came as Germany, like much of Western Europe, has dealt with a major push from right-wing leaders and parties over the last year or more.

Hoecke is known for making such remarks, but he’s drawing severe criticism for targeting the memorial, also called the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. Hoecke also said that Germans are a “brutally defeated people” and that the country required an “180-degree turn” in regard to how it views its history. He was speaking Tuesday night in Dresden in front of both party supporters and roughly 200 protesters.

The memorial opened in 2005 and contains 2,711 stone slabs to honor the 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust during World War II, a direct result of the Nazi Party’s rise under Adolf Hitler.

Continued: http://www.ibtimes.com/german-leader-slams-holocaust-memorial-disgrace-berlin-afds-bjoern-hoecke-says-2476913